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The door bursts open,slamming against the wall as Zoe screams at the top of her lungs, “What do you mean you quit your job?”
“Exactly what I told you on the phone,” Celia answers, continuing to strategically place items in the moving box in front of her. A box that was filled with my stuff only a few days ago.
Anything can be turned into a prop.
“I don’t understand. Jessa, you love your job. Why would you quit?”
Zoe moves across the set quickly, coming to a stop in front of where Celia is kneeling down on the floor.
“You’re right, I did love my job, but it’s also my whole life. I’ve done nothing except work since I graduated. I had big plans, remember? I was going to travel the world, do a bunch of fun things before I settled down. None of that happened.” Celia plops on her ass and rests her head against the wall. “Not. One. Thing.”
God, she’s good. Better than when we started filming. Hell, Ansen would have called cut twice by now if this were three months ago.
“Look at your life, Amber. You have a husband, three kids, two dogs, and a house. The whole shebang. I want all of that someday, I do, but more than anything else right now, I want to live. I need to. Part of that is living for me.”
“So … what? You’re going on an extended vacation? You didn’t need to quit your job to do that. You could have asked for time off, Jessa. Can you call your boss, explain this to him? Maybe he’ll let you have your job back.”
Zoe slides down the wall and takes a seat next to Celia. They make eye contact, and you can see the emotion in their expressions. Celia is trying to convey her need to get away while Zoe is silently begging her to stay.
“I don’t want my job back. I’m almost done packing up my apartment. I sold off most of the big stuff I won’t need. The rest of this,” she says, motioning around at the stacked boxes, “is going in Mom and Dad’s basement until I need it again.”
“And where are you going to live then?”
“It doesn’t matter where, it’s how. I’m going to live free. That’s the point. I cashed in the vacation time I never used, cleared out my savings account. I figure I have at least a year’s worth of traveling ahead of me and enough money to travel for longer than that.”
“So you’re leaving? When?”
Celia and Zoe continue to banter back and forth the way best friends do. Pushing each other. Asking the hard questions. They remind me a lot of my little circle right now. The way Hayden and Austin constantly push me to think about my life. To consider my options. To own up to my choices. Most importantly, to be myself and do what makes me happy.
Which I’m currently doing.
Or at least trying.
Enter Eli stage left. And damn does my man look fine as hell right now. He’s waiting for his cue, standing just off camera outside of the still open door of the set made to look like Jessa’s apartment.
“Maybe that hunk next door could go with you,” Zoe suggests.
“Stop it, Amber. We have a different kind of relationship. You know it’s not like that between us. We don’t even go out to eat together.”
“Maybe it should be. You only live once, right? Why not make every moment worth it? And from what you’ve told me, he’s worth a few extra moments.”
As Zoe finishes her statement, Eli steps through the door and leans against the frame, crossing his arms over his sweat-soaked shirt. It’s hugging his muscles, and the sight of him has me drooling even though I’m the one he goes home with at night.
“Why thank you,” Eli says.
“Hey, Jackson.” Celia averts her gaze as if she’s been caught staring. “Amber was just leaving.”
Pushing herself off the floor, she reaches down and helps Zoe to her feet as she protests, “No, no I wasn’t. I was just telling Jessa that she needs to ask you to go on vacation with her. She shouldn’t be traveling alone.”
Zoe steps around Celia, handing Eli a folded slip of paper. He carefully unfolds it, taking time reading what Celia has written before speaking.
“Are you really going to do all these things?”
“I am,” Celia states firmly, lifting her head. “I leave next week.”
“And you want company?” A devilish grin begins to spread across Eli’s face.
He was worried he wouldn’t be able to pull it off last night. The thought of traveling anywhere with Celia makes him nauseated. I told him to think of me instead. It appears he isn’t having any issues with the smirk today.
